Container-taping machine



June 3, 1930. LINN ET AL CONTAINER TAPING MACHINE Filed Sept 18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheei 1 W///////////////////fl//// June 3, 1930. G. E. LINN ET AL CONTAINER TAPING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1928 the gummed side of the tape,

i Patented June- 3, 1930 uNin STTES [PATENT OFFIE GUY E. LINN, OF RITTIVAN", 0310,AND`WILLIA H.

DISTRIGT OF GOLUMB A; ASSIGNORS TO THE OHIO BoXBoAnD COMPANY, or. CLEVE- LAND, oHIo; A COEPOEATIQN OF OHIO v ONTAINEB-'APING MACHINE e Application, fiIedSeitnibr 18,192& Serial N 3o6,737

In the manufacture of containers,-particularly of cartons or shipping cases, hav-- single blank of corrugated or the like com 5 posite board, it is customary to secure the adjacent or meeting edges of the blank at a the container, by means'of ,a ;strip of tape, usually a gummed linen tape,-whichis ap- 1 0 plied to the adjacent or meeting edges while theblank is foldedflat V y This tape is applied, according to the usual practice, by an automatic tapingmachine, which feeds the'-fo1ded blanks, wets applies the wetted t'ape, under roller' pressure, :to the adj acent or meeting edges'of the blank, outs ofi the tape to the required lengthto cover the edges throughout their length, and then '20 feeds the taped blanks between conveyor belts which hold the tape to the blank to insure its adhesion thereto, the blanks being finally dis charged upon a stacking table or' other support. i e 'E i In those machines -of this characterj with which we are familianthe intention is to make the travel of the containersbetweenthe conveyor belts of' such a length that bythe time the containers are discharged therefrom the tape' will'have dried and-become firnly united with the adj acent ormeeting edges of the blank In practice, however, -it;;some-` times' happens that the=tape does not *adhere as intended and doesnot become completely dried by the timevthe blanks are discharged, with the result that' some of' the containers are imperfectand have to be either discarded or ret'aped' 1 x The object of our invention s'to' prov de means .whereby this failure ina consistent The invention consists in adeviceadapted for .application to taping machines, whereby the 'tape', just subsequent to its application :may be subjected to heat and pressure, or,{1 n efiect, to ironing, 'to insu're its proper iadhesion to s the 'adjacent or meeting edge; of the con ing sides and endflapsand formed from a" point which ultimately forms a corner of Fig. 2 is a front'elevatin,

apparatus and a cutting -or sticking apparatus.- These latter two "app'aratus, being of cnvention'a and welloperation of taping machines maybe avoided,

-known form, 'are' not illustrated. I

while still in a moist condition;

and. ressur e=applying members `8, each FINCKEL, JE., I' OF WAsHINsTom tainer blank, .as we will proceed ow to ex I 'i 'plain and finally claim. x 1 In the acompanying drawings illustrating the inventiomin the several figures of whichlike parts are similarly designated,

FigureLLis a schematic View showingthe device of'our invention in' association with a tapng machine of; conventonal form.

ofthe device of our invention, the'bed of the tapng machine being shown with containers being tapedpassingunder 'our devic e F ig. 3 is a top plan view, on a larger scale, of our tially on line 4-4 "of Figl 2. 5 is a perspective view of a' folded container or carton .blank before the'` application of the tape, and Fig. 6 is a similarview after application of the tape. v w

The taping machine proper includes, as assential' elements, a bed 1 provided with `re'cesses or a, 'recess in its upper face in which. travel a pair of chains or 'a belt 2' carrying suitab-ly e spaced lugs 3 and running over sprockets or rollers 4, one :pair ofwhich provides the drive for the chains or be1t.` Arranged upon the top ofthe bed 1 isa stop orabutment 5 ag'amst which are s'tacked being provided in the stop adjacent-tothe mechanism of guide rollers 7 which. convey'and guide the tape into operative relation to a' wetting on a larger scle, e

and end' applying v 2 device. Fig. 4 is a section taken substanr r top of the bed 1 through which'the blanks a maybe advanced one-by-one tothe tapin'g by means of the travelling lugs 3. The tap'ing ,mechanism comprises a'suitable support, not shown, on 'which are 'mounted 'a rollt6 of gummed tape b, and aplurality r -In the athof .travel of the ta'pe b as 'itis applied to the adjacent ormeeting edges a of the blanks a (see Figs. l, 5 and 6),-we mount the device of our invention. This v y device comp'rises' a pair ;of similar ironing of fittedwith a heating, member 9,

whic is vpfreierably an 'eleetrical resieae elements Each of these resistance elements is provided with terminals 10 and 11 to which positive and negative leads from a source of electric i current may be connected. The ironing and pressure-applyng members 8 are spaced apart and are connected at their leading ends to an upturned shoe member 12, carrying a block 13, and at their rear ends to a block 14, by means of bolt-s 15 or other appropriate connections. Each of the blocks 13 and 14 is provided with a screwthreaded rod 16, and these rods extend through and are slidable in holes :formed in the ends of a support or bar 17. Springs 18, through which the rods 16 pass, abut at their ends against the blocks 13 and 14, -respectvely, and against the ends of the bar 17 and exert a downward pressure "upon the blocks which tends -to force the members 8 into intimate "contact with the" tapes applied to the container blanks. Ob- 'viously, the springs 18 will be relatively stii 'so as to provide a requisite pressure or ironing efi'ect upon the tapes'in order that the la'tter may be made to adhere throughout to the adjacent edges of the blanks. Downward movement of the members 8 is limited by means of washers 19 and nuts 20applied to the rods 16 and adjustable thereon.

' It will be understood that the bar 17 is carried by some fixed part of the frame of the taping machine, and it may, if desired, be rigidly applied thereto. But, as it sometimes "happens that the machine stops or is stopped w with a blank beneath the device of our invention, we consider it `advisable to so mount the bar17 that the ironing and pressure applying members 8 may be raised out of contact with the blanks, so that such blanks, when stopped v y beneath the members 8, will not be scorched or burned. To this end, we mount the bar 17 forflvertical sliding movement, preferably normal to the bed 1, by means of dove-tail tongue and groove connections 21, with a plate22 supported by a bracket 23 on a portion 24 of the frame of the machine. In orderthat the bar 17 may be raised 'and lowered,

and held in either of these positions we providea cam'25 fixed on a shaft 26 having an 'operating handle 27. This cam 25 bears against a strap 28 carried by the bar 17, and

against a'seat 29 formed in the bar 17. The

shaf t 26 is journalled in a vertically adjustable bearing bracket 30 fixed to the frame 24 'orto the bracket 23. -It will be understood,

off course, thatmeans other than the cam arrangement shown may be used in this conneci tion, so long as the operation of rasing and lowering the vironing and pressure-applying membersand holding them fixed is made possible.

Parallel belts31 and 32 running over pulleys or rollers 33 and 34, respectively, are employed'for conveying the taped blanks, preferably under pressure, from the taping machine to a stacking table or other point of delivery.

Obviously, the pressure-applying and ironing members 8 will be of such length, and theirhea'ting members 9 will maintain such a degree of heat, that when the taped blanks are discharged 'from beneath them the tapes will have been completely dried and pressed into such intimate contact with the adjacent edges of the blanks as to have adhered throughout their entire blank-Contacting areas with such edges.

By using two of the members 8, instead of .a single one of such members of double width, and spacing them apart, as is clearly shown in Fig. 4, we are not only enabled to employ smaller and less expensive resistance elements but we apply the heat and pressure where needed and provide a space through which the vapor produced by the clrying of the ,wetted tape may readily escape.

The operation of the device would seem to be apparent, but, in the interest of clearness, it may be described briefiy as follows z-lVe i will assume that the' tapng machine is supjacent edges c in longitudinal alignment with the tape-applying mechanism and the space between the members 8. i

The taping machine being started, the folded blanks a will be fed one-by-one by the lugs 3 beneath the taping mechanism where a suitable length of tape will be applied to each and automatically severed from the web of tape coming from the roll of tape 6. The blanks will then pass under the device of our invention, the u p-turned Shoe 12 facilitating their insertion beneath it. The springs 18, being compre'ssed by the thickness of the blank, will eXert pressure upon the tape to cause it to smoothly adhere to the edges c, as shown in Fig. 4, the heat supplied by the members 9 at the same time drivng ofi the moisture and ironing the tape, so that when the finished taped blanks emerge from beneath our device, as shown at e, (Fig. 1) ,their joints will be properly, evenly taped and dried and the tape cannot thereafter become loosened or disarrange'd. i i

If the taping machine should stop orbe stopped when a blank or blanks are beneath our device, the members 8 may be immediate- 'ly raised out of contact with and removed from injuriou's proXimity to the blank by appropriate manipulation of the cam 25 by means of handle 27, andthus the heat of the members 9 will not burn the tape or the blank.

We have shown and described electrical rei the members 8, but it will be understood that steam or hot-water 'heated elements might be j used instead, and various other changes and *modifications are deemed to be permssible within the spirit of the nvention and-the scope of the following claimsQ What we claim is 2- 1. In a container taping machine, the combination with container eeding and taping mechanisms, of means for applying pressure and heat to the applied tape, said means 1ncluding a pressure-applyng member, a heating member for supplying heat to said' pressure-applying member, a support for said members, meansinterposed between said support and said members for supplying pres-. sure to said pressure-applying member, and manually operable means for bodly adjusting said support to move saidmembers toward'and away from thetaped containers at the will of an operator. i

2, In a container taping machine, the combination with container eeding, and taping mechanisms, of means for applying pressure and heat to the applied tape, said means including a pressure-applying member provided with means'for supplying heatthereto, a support for said member, resilient means interposed between said member and said support, and means for raising and lowering said support and said member as a unit. i

3. In a container taping machine, the combination with container feedng and tapng mechanisms, of means for applying pressure and heat to the applied tape, said means'including a pressure-applying member provided 'with means for supplying heat thereto, V v a support for said member, resilient means interposed between said member and 'said support, and means including a cam mechanism' for raising and lowering said support and said member as a unit,

4. In a container taping machine, the combination with container feeding and taping `mechanisms,'of means for applying pressure and heat to the applied tape, said means in-' 'cluding a pair of spaced pressure-applying cally pressure-applying members.

' and to saidapplied tape, and means for vertii adjusting said support and with it said 6. In a container taping machine, the com I bination with container feeding andtaping mechanisms, of means for applying pressure 'andlheat to the applied tape, said means ine cluding a pair' of pressure-applying mem-' bers, heating elements "carried thereby and jadapted to'supply heat thereto, blocks ar-` ranged transversely of said members'adjacent to their ends and to which the members are attached in spaced' parallel relation, a support, rods carried by said blocks and; v slidably mountedin said support, and resilient means interposed between said support and said blocks for applying pressure to said members and therethrough to the applied tape.

7. In a container tapng machine, the combination with container feeding and taping mechanisms, of means for applying pressure' and heat to the applied tape, said means including' a pair of pressure-applyng members, heating elements carried thereby and adapted to supply heat thereto, blocks arranged transversely of said members adja'cent to their ends and to which the 4 members are attached in,

spacedp'arallel relation,`a support, rods 'car-' V i ried by said blocks and slidably mounted in said supports, resilient means interposed between said support and blocks and positioned H by said rods, means carried by saidrods for' limiting movement of said membersrelatively to said support under theinfluence'of said resilient means, and means for raising .and laowering said support and with it said mem-` ers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this17th day of September, 'A. D.

1928. e y GUY E. LINN.

In testimony whereof 'I have hereunto' set' 'my *hand this 18th day of September, A. -D.

1928. r v WILLIAM H. FINCKEL,JR;

- members, and a heating member for supply- I ing heat to each of same, the space between said members providing an escape for vapor i produced by heating of the tape.

5. In a container taping machine, the combination with container feeding' and taping mechanisms, of means for applying pressure i e and heat to the applied tape, said means including a a pair of pressure-applying mem- 'i bers, heating members carried' thereby, means tion, a support for said pressure-applying members, resilient 'means interposed between said support and saidpressure-app1yingmem i bers an by which pressure s applied thereto mp5 i 

